For millennia, balls, and particularly spherical balls, have been one of the most popular of play objects. Balls are used in the majority of team sports and also used for a number of types of solo play. Spherical balls can be rolled, thrown, kicked, hit, etc. to provide a predictable trajectory, and are used in sports such as soccer, ping pong, basket ball, tennis, baseball, bowling, cricket, racket ball, hand ball, water polo, and polo, to name just a few, and for solo amusements such as juggling.
Clearly, balls come in a wide variety of sizes and have a wide variety of compressibility and rebound characteristics. In addition, a number of interesting ball variations into new realms (i.e., outside of simple variations in size, hardness and bounciness) are described below.
One interesting ball variation is the Koosh™ ball, manufactured by OddzOn Products of Campbell, Calif. and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,756,529, which consists of a very large number of flexible elastomeric filaments emanating from a central region. The Koosh ball is well-suited for younger children because it does not roll away and is easily caught and grasped, in contrast with most balls and ball games which are best suited for older children and adults.
Another interesting variation on the ball is the Nobbly Wobbly™ ball, manufactured by Hands On Toys of Wilmington, Mass., which consists of bands of circular cross-section interweaved to form a ball, each of the bands being in a different equatorial plane with the arrangement of the bands having some high-order symmetry. Because of the unevenness of the surface of the Nobbly Wobbly ball, when rolled along a surface there will be a slight element of bounciness and unevenness to the roll.
The Aerobie® Squidgie® ball is a soft foam ball with a distinctive pattern of large triangular-section ridges. The pattern of the ridges gives the appearance of the ball being particularly aerodynamic when thrown in a few particular orientations. The Aerobie Squidgie ball bounces substantially true and may be played with much like a regular ball.
The Oball, manufactured by Rhino® Toys of Santa Cruz, Calif., is a spherical shell composed of roughly thirty abutting circular rings. The rings are made of a flexible plastic, and the large holes within the rings make the Oball easy to catch and clutch even for toddlers. When the Oball is rolled along a surface there will be a slight element of bounciness and unevenness to the roll.
The Iplay Light N Sound ball, manufactured by International Playthings of Parsippany, N.J., is a baby toy which emits light and sounds when rolled. The outside ball has multiple apertures through which is a colorful inner ball is visible and touchable. The inner ball is free to roll within the outer ball, but is not removable from the outer ball.
The Rubber Ball-in-Ball toy, manufactured by Leerburg® Enterprises of Menomonie, Wis., is a dog toy which has an outer ball with two paw-shaped apertures and a circular aperature. Within the outer ball is an inner ball, which is free to roll within the outer ball but is not removable from the outer ball.
The Hoberman® Sphere, manufactured by Hoberman Designs, Inc. of New York, N.Y., is a lattice of hinged arms which in its expanded or contracted states, and all states in between, is roughly spherical. When rolled in its expanded state it will generally contract to the contracted state, and will have a slight element of bounciness and unevenness to the roll.
The present invention is directed to a new ball variation which provides aspects of standard ball play and in addition opens up new play possibilities.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a novel variation on the ball.
More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel variation on the ball which allows aspects of standard ball play and in addition opens up new play possibilities.
It is therefore also an object of the present invention to provide a novel variation on ball play, particularly ball play for small children.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a multi-part ball.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a multi-part ball which can be readily assembled and disassembled.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a multi-part ball which, in assembled form, is rollable, preferably rolls relatively true, and more preferably rolls substantially true.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a multi-part ball which has a component which can be placed in stable equilibrium on a flat surface, i.e., which can oriented on a flat surface such that it does not roll.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a multi-part ball which has a component, such as a smaller ball, which rolls substantially true.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a set of multi-part balls with interchangeable parts.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a set of multi-part balls with components which are stackable, and preferably easily stackable.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and will be apparent from the description or may be learned from the practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the claims.